Professor Rick Rossein has been selected as the Independent EEO Consultant in the wake of a U.S. District Court decision in U.S. and the Vulcan Society v. the City of New York. The case, filed first by the Department of Justice and then the Center for Constitutional Rights, found that the New York City Fire Department’s hiring practices discriminated based on race and ordered major reforms, with the proviso that a consultant develop compliance reforms along with the Court Monitor and the City. Prof. Rossein will be overseeing and developing a compliance program to ensure that the NYFD and the City address and eliminate discriminatory hiring practices based on race.

Professor Rick Rossein

Prof. Rossein has an extensive background in civil rights and employment law that includes work at the National Employment Law Project, Queens Legal Services, New York City Bureau of Labor Services, and New York City Commission on Human Rights. In addition, he has litigated numerous employment discrimination cases, including landmark sexual harassment cases, drafted legislation and model sexual harassment regulations, published a three-volume treatise, Employment Discrimination Law and Litigation, and edited Employment Law Desk Book for Human Resource Professionals. He also served as commissioner for equal employment practices under Mayor David Dinkins and was appointed by Governor Mario Cuomo to cochair a committee on the Task Force on Sexual Harassment.